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I saw it before. I get confused most times I watch it, not by not understanding what is being said, but by wondering why it really matters. Most people aren't going to believe a great concert pianist would fake something, unless it is blatantly obvious; and I'm sure if a concert pianist would fake a passage to make it easier for himself, he would do everything he could to not let the audience know he was faking.

Dear God, have you read the comments? The poster of the video (who most suspect to be the guy in it) claims that:

1. No one besides a composer can play that passage because their brains are "wired incorrectly"

2. Kastle's allegedly superior version was censored by a conspiracy engineered by EMI, who then released Cziffra's "fake" version and "marketed it as "The Greatest of the Century"

3. Horowitz's lack of ability to write a symphony proves he could not possibly play La Campanella. "In addition, he had the action on his piano﻿ adjusted to create an illusion that he could play at a higher level than others. He was a fine illusionist, the Houdini of the arts." (Whaaaat!?)

4. There is a "masive(sic) brainwashing campaign that has allowed frauds who can't create﻿ symphonies to take over the concert halls."

5. "Kastle is the only pianist on record in the 20th century who played the ending on this Rhapsody as written. That's why it is the hardest passage. All others with poorly wired brains must fake."

6. "Juilliard removed the creative challenges from the curriculum, creating an incorrect environment in the brain. Columbia students refer to it as the retard academy, because they systematically stop the neurons from forming interconnected circuits between the hippocampus and the﻿ pre-frontal cortex. They interfere with a natural process effectively giving their students a white matter lobotomy. That's why they can't write a symphony and fake Liszt."

7. Rachmaninoff also faked the ending to this piece "Rachmaninoff puts his hands together simplifying 110 confusing hand positions to 55(sometimes he rolls his RH)... Kastle doesn't fake like Rachmaninoff,Horowitz,Cziffra,Lang,Hamlin,Dichter,Brendel ect."

Originally posted by op30no3: I can't figure out if he is joking or just really, really, really stupid. [/b]

"If they told you the truth, that the conductor is distorting the sound of Beethoven Symphonies, if they told you the truth about the Chinese pianist cheating like the Chinese atheletes at the Olympics" ..... "People need to realize what I always knew"

Originally posted by Theowne: It seems like this video comes up and is insulted a lot, but I can't understand why nobody comments on the actual comment he is making.

I have never played this rhapsody and I am not familiar with the score.

So can someone actually bother to tell us whether Kastle's claim is accurate? Do other pianists modify the way the piece is written, and is he playing it correctly? [/b]

I would but I do not have a copy of the score handy.

I am curious as to the validity of his statement.

That said, to imply that every major recording artist in history has faked that particular passage, including technical monsters such as Hamelin who has performed the most difficult pieces in the repertoire as if it was nothing, is a bit ridiculous in my opinion.

Originally posted by Theowne: It seems like this video comes up and is insulted a lot, but I can't understand why nobody comments on the actual comment he is making.

I have never played this rhapsody and I am not familiar with the score.

So can someone actually bother to tell us whether Kastle's claim is accurate? Do other pianists modify the way the piece is written, and is he playing it correctly? [/b]

His claim is absolutely ridiculous. Everything he says is ridiculous. The right and left hand parts are exactly the same, simply played with the right hand a sixteenth note (I think that's the right note value; haven't looked at the score in a couple years) later than the left. There are no "separate tracks" needed. This part of the piece is not hard, and nobody fakes it. Playing the octaves together would make it harder, not easier, anyway, IMHO.

His playing is also bad--he just slams down the pedal and plays bad-sounding notes with no dynamics or sense of balance or control.

I looked up the animations that were supposed to have won awards at the New York Independent Film and Video Festival, and it is TRUE! I have no idea why, but he really did win a best director's award...

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Originally posted by Theowne: It seems like this video comes up and is insulted a lot, but I can't understand why nobody comments on the actual comment he is making.

I have never played this rhapsody and I am not familiar with the score.

So can someone actually bother to tell us whether Kastle's claim is accurate? Do other pianists modify the way the piece is written, and is he playing it correctly? [/b]

His claim is absolutely ridiculous. Everything he says is ridiculous. The right and left hand parts are exactly the same, simply played with the right hand a sixteenth note (I think that's the right note value; haven't looked at the score in a couple years) later than the left. There are no "separate tracks" needed. This part of the piece is not hard, and nobody fakes it. Playing the octaves together would make it harder, not easier, anyway, IMHO.

His playing is also bad--he just slams down the pedal and plays bad-sounding notes with no dynamics or sense of balance or control.

I looked up the animations that were supposed to have won awards at the New York Independent Film and Video Festival, and it is TRUE! I have no idea why, but he really did win a best director's award... [/b]

I agree that his performance of it is very sub-par. Lacks clarity and excitement.

Originally posted by Theowne: It seems like this video comes up and is insulted a lot, but I can't understand why nobody comments on the actual comment he is making.

I have never played this rhapsody and I am not familiar with the score.

So can someone actually bother to tell us whether Kastle's claim is accurate? Do other pianists modify the way the piece is written, and is he playing it correctly? [/b]

His claim is absolutely ridiculous. Everything he says is ridiculous. The right and left hand parts are exactly the same, simply played with the right hand a sixteenth note (I think that's the right note value; haven't looked at the score in a couple years) later than the left. There are no "separate tracks" needed. This part of the piece is not hard, and nobody fakes it. Playing the octaves together would make it harder, not easier, anyway, IMHO.

His playing is also bad--he just slams down the pedal and plays bad-sounding notes with no dynamics or sense of balance or control.

I looked up the animations that were supposed to have won awards at the New York Independent Film and Video Festival, and it is TRUE! I have no idea why, but he really did win a best director's award... [/b]

I agree that his performance of it is very sub-par. Lacks clarity and excitement.

So, are you positive both hands are the same but a 16th note apart?

Basically, is he blowing smoke? [/b]

I actually believe that, yes, both hands are the same but a 16th note apart... But, don't have the score here (as well).

Can anybody, with the score, check please, because I'm starting to have doubts about my memory...

I can't say I enjoyed those 40 secs in the video, but it's 40 secs, I would prefer them to stop talking and play a bit more, instead of insulting everyone on the planet...

Had a look at the score. Would have thought Rach 3 cadenza is more difficult. When I was 15 I often played or 'faked' the Liszt in a different key and transposed it. Nothing more than standard Grade 9. Difficult for a few hours and after that the pattern is easily memorised. I don't follow all this "auto-pilot" stuff he was on about, but I think he has an approxiamate grasp of the psychology involved.

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Originally posted by Arabesque: Had a look at the score. Would have thought Rach 3 cadenza is more difficult. When I was 15 I often played or 'faked' the Liszt in a different key and transposed it. Nothing more than standard Grade 9. Difficult for a few hours and after that the pattern is easily memorised. I don't follow all this "auto-pilot" stuff he was on about, but I think he has an approxiamate grasp of the psychology involved. [/b]

His psychology is rubbish--a good pianist is never, ever on "auto-pilot." There is no difficult trick to playing that part. I know that the parts are exactly the same and have no doubts. Nothing he says has any validity whatsoever.

_________________________
Help people. www.thehungersite.comGo and click the button. That's it. Just do it.

I don't have the technical ability to say whether his claims about performances of difficult passages being faked have merit. But there is something I recognize here. Every now and then, we physicists encounter scientific crackpots and outright charlatans. He sounds a lot like them. The similarities are:

1. He is the only person who really knows the truth - all the experts are wrong or outright liars. Fake physicists are all smarter than Einstein.2. He doesn't present his claims in a way that can be substantiated. In science, the charlatans publish popular books, not refereed journal articles. In his case, he explains in an interview with an actor who doesn't know anything about music. You don't see him sitting down with a real pianist, demonstrating the flaws, or playing recordings at slow speeds so fast passages can be clearly followed.3. Fame and fortune are passing him by unfairly. It's a conspiracy.